


I Can't Breathe Now

by diefleder_tey



Category: Kanjani8 (Band)
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-26
Updated: 2015-09-26
Packaged: 2019-04-05 06:17:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14038002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/diefleder_tey/pseuds/diefleder_tey
Summary: Two tired idols, one bed.  Maru discovers he doesn't know Ryo as well as he thinks.





	I Can't Breathe Now

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Trope Challenge; the trope assigned for this piece was "Forced Bed Sharing." As with other Trope Challenge fics, it's just a quick piece.

 

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Maru wasn’t paying attention to where he was going, eyes trained down and lost in the scrolling of digital text as he thumbed through his latest Jweb entry - making sure one last time he hadn’t missed a typo before hitting submit. He walked right into Ryo’s back, as the other had stopped dead in the door and dropped his bag on the floor. Maru had to grab his shoulders for balance - Ryo didn’t appreciate the effort. “What?”

Ryo furrowed his eyebrows and jabbed a finger toward the room, as if it were painfully obvious.

Maru blinked and looked over. It was a decent room, not the best place he had ever stayed, but certainly not the worst. The bed took up most of the space, but there was still a small dresser, a tv on top, a place to put his overnight bag. The color scheme was white on white and it smelled like the air conditioning had been running all day. “It’s not bad.”

“What?”

Over the years, Maru had been exposed - and had become somewhat accustomed - to many of Ryo’s quirks. Ryo liked things simple, and the room was simple. He didn’t like a lot of light when he slept, and the room had sun blocking curtains. He liked thick walls so he didn’t have to hear anyone else’s noise, and Maru was pretty sure he could have heard a pin drop if he could hear anything at all over Ryo’s disgruntled complaining. He couldn’t help but smile at the thought - really, he knew an awful lot about the other when it came down to it.

And yet, Maru told himself, maybe not enough. Ryo crossed his arms. Maru’s smile was just making it worse. “I like it?” Maru offered.

Ryo groaned as he leaned over to pick his bag up off of the floor, trudging in.

“Okay, if my room’s better, we can switch?”

“I’m taking a shower,” Ryo announced.

“Okay?” Maru backed up slightly to get out of the way. Was it worth asking Ryo if he wanted to try to find an open place before showering? Or maybe he’d feel more up to it after getting all the sweat from that day’s filming off of him? Or maybe the best plan was to leave him be and go straight for the room service menu once he got into his own. He took another step back to give the other space and hit into the cameraman with his head. Oh. Wait.

In his mind he rewound the last 10 minutes - the day was coming to a close and he had tuned out of the negotiations to focus on getting his JWeb entry in on time. He had only ever missed posting once - and then it was due to a significant natural disaster. He hadn’t had a chance all day while they were filming and he wasn’t about to admit defeat. As Ryo had approached the hotel and spoke to the employee at the front desk, Maru had assumed it was safe to zone out and focus on what really mattered.

The cameraman wasn’t moving.

Remote location for filming. Last hotel open. Last room open.

Oh.

Maru looked over his shoulder again to eye the single king-sized bed. Ohhhhh.

The cameraman zoomed in on his face. Oh….

“How are we-?” Maru started.

“We’ll set up something to record overnight. I’ll stay out in the van.”

“You don’t have to, we-” Maru stopped before the cameraman could remind him - this is how things go. The editors and directors at the tv station would be pleased with that day’s footage, but utterly giddy at the idea of fitting in 3 minutes of idol downtime. Tiny room, two tired Johnny’s - their mussed hair waking up next to each other alone would launch a thousand tweets and blog posts. It wasn’t as if he and his groupmates hadn’t shared beds before, but Ryo’s annoyance began to make sense. Maru had already mentally planned out his evening - stretching out on the bed, a drink or two, maybe a snack; at no point did walking around a camera and trying to accommodate a roommate come to mind.

Their cameraman set up some equipment and said his goodnight. Maru obliging waved at it before plopping his bag down on the dresser. As he was pulling out the essentials - toothbrush, toothpaste, nighttime eye cream - the bathroom door slid open and Ryo hopped out in nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist.

Maru caught his glance in time and shook his head, tipping it toward where the camera was. Ryo saw and groaned. He motioned for Maru to toss him his bag off of the bed.

“Do you want to-” Maru started.

Ryo caught the bag and turned around, fishing out his underwear and maneuvering as best he could underneath the towel. “Let’s just go to bed.”

“Yeah, okay. Do you want the left side or-?”

Ryo walked up next to him, shaking out his hair with the towel. The bed was pressed up against two walls - one behind the headboard and one flush to the right side of the bed. “Yeah.”

“Nightlight on the alarm clock on or off?”

“Off.”

“Can I turn the air down mo-”

“Off.”

“Do you want to-”

“OFF.”

Maru choked out a little exasperated sigh. Within 20 minutes all the nightly rituals had been passed and he found himself pushed next to the wall, already getting too hot underneath the covers and the robe he had grabbed, trying his best to create enough space for his companion - who was half-draped over the left edge and sighing loudly at the predicament.

“This is the worst,” Ryo muttered.

Maru frowned and tried to push himself even closer to the wall. He was pretty sure it was still hours before Ryo’s usual bedtime - which meant hours of listening to him get frustrated at not being able to fall asleep. Hours of Ryo flopping about, trying to find a comfortable position that didn’t exist; hours of Ryo pulling the sheets over as it was too cold, only to throw them all back on Maru five minutes later when it was too hot; hours of annoyed sighs as Ryo dropped his head against the pillow, trying to will himself to sleep. Maru was sure, he was very sure all of that was coming. Ryo was already distancing himself and was tensed up so much Maru couldn’t help but notice. A night full of suffering through tiny tantrums seemed inevitable; finally Maru cleared his throat and let it out. “Ryo-chan?”

“Hn?”

“Sorry.”

For a while, no answer. Then, “Don’t say you’re sorry.”

“But-”

“There’s no reason to apologize. Maru?”

“Yeah?”

“Why are you wearing a robe in bed?”

“Well, I, because-”

“You’re sweating like crazy already, take it off!”

Maru side-eyed him in the dark. So much for no reason to apologize. And how could he tell, anyway, he thought, wiping a few droplets off of his forehead with the sleeve. Fine. Maru pushed himself up and pulled the left arm off, then right, before wadding it up and tossing it over Ryo’s body and onto the floor.

He stayed there for a moment, sitting on his feet and looking down at the other - Ryo with the sheet firmly grasped in his hand and pulled tightly around his shoulder, as Maru scratched an itch on his now bare chest. If he were at home, he’d be in his sweatpants and a shirt, but there hadn’t been enough room to stuff them into the tiny overnight bag. Sure the robe made him sweat more, but it was going to happen anyway and at least that would have been a buffer. “Maybe I should sleep on the floor?”

“You’re not sleeping on the floor,” Ryo grumbled. “Just go to bed.”

Fine. He got on his back and pulled his side of the sheets up to his chin, taking a deep breath. He stared up at the ceiling for a moment. It was obvious that Ryo was still awake. He knew what Ryo looked like when he was relaxed - his legs casually spread open as he slouched and crossed his arms. Sure, this was a bed and not a couch on the set, but the air should have been the same. There was no way he was going to sleep that tensed up. “What do you think tomorrow will be like?”

“Maru?”

“Yeah?”

“Go to sleep.”

“Ryo-chan-”

“Maru?”

“What?”

“Go. To. Sleep.”

“I’m trying-”

“Maru?”

He wasn’t going to answer this time. Maru turned over on his left side, blocking the conversation with his back. He closed his eyes and relaxed his shoulders, for the first time that night noticing how soft the mattress was beneath him. The pillow was soft too; the sheets smooth, crisp, clean.

“Maru?”

A few minutes later - “Maru?” A poke in the shoulder, then the back. “Hey, Maru, are you asleep?”

No answer. Just the occasional deep exhale that interrupted the regular pattern of air in and out.

“Maru?”

Ryo sat up in bed. “Finally.” He swung his feet over the side, quickly getting up and heading toward the bathroom. He shuffled, his bare foot kicking into the wadded up robe that had been thrown on the floor. He picked it up, mumbling something about it - uttering some sign of annoyance - and then haphazardly threw it to the side before carrying on. Once he was in the tiny hallway before the bathroom door, he took a deep breath. He stood, silently counting down in his head; when it seemed like the timing was right, he leaned into the bathroom and pulled the handle to flush the unused toilet. He shuffled back toward the bed, this time keeping his eyes to his right as he passed the corner of the dresser where he knew the camera had been placed.

The robe had knocked it back, skewed it from its shot, and partially covered its lens. Ryo smiled.

He slid back into bed and gave the useless camera one more look before announcing, almost too loudly, “Maru, move over!”

Maru was fast asleep, still pressed up against the wall; his side moving slightly with each breath.

The tension in Ryo’s muscles melted out. He moved his pillow closer to the middle of the bed and scooted in, so close that he could smell their entire day on Maru’s skin.

One last time. “Maru?” he whispered.

Whirring sounded out as the air conditioner kicked in, masking the room in purposeless noise, and Ryo pushed his forehead up against Maru’s shoulder, the slightest contact against his nose and cheek. Everything stayed still.

Ryo exhaled deeply - “Goodnight” - and quickly fell asleep.

In the morning, the light peeked through the cracks where the blackout curtains didn’t quite reach. Maru was slightly disoriented at first - this was not his home, this was not his bed. He didn’t have his favorite t-shirt on and his alarm wasn’t gently pushing on his eardrums to wake him up. His first instinct was to stretch, but instead he looked over at his right arm, where Ryo’s head was cradled in the dip of the elbow, holding him down. Ryo stirred slightly, turning his head in and pressing his mouth against the bicep, moving his hand up to Maru’s shoulder.

Maru craned his neck slightly; he wasn’t going to be able to move much without waking Ryo. Definitely not enough, he realized - he didn’t know Ryo that well after all. He smiled as he tried his best to stretch gently, as unobtrusive as possible, to lightly kiss Ryo on the forehead. It was nice to be wrong.


End file.
